During July the whole country began to develop Olympic Fever. As part of it’s build up the Radio Times published a pattern for a knitted Usain Bolt, taken from a Knitlympics: a whole book of patterns for knitted Olympians. As we had been lucky enough to get tickets to see Usain run the 200m final in the Olympic Stadium, and with encouragement from my children I picked up my needles. You can find the pattern at the Radio Times website if you want to make your own!
The body and head and the pattern
Just before the opening ceremony I finished #knittedUsain and this is the story of his (and our) Olympic journey.
#knittedUsain all finished
The Olympics gripped the nation and as soon as the athletics started #knittedUsain was hooked too. He even got a mention of the Radio Times twitter feed!
The real excitement came in the second week when #knittedUsain caught the train to London to see the games first hand.
On the train to London.
He got to hold the torch at the British Library.
Holding the torch.
The next day #knittedUsain made sure he had the tickets…
… then we caught the Javelin to the Olympic Park.
After a hectic day in the Olympic Park #knittedUsain made it into the stadium.
After a fantastic evening of athletics, including seeing a new world record in the men’s 800m, #knittedUsain finally got to see the real Usain Bolt as he won the 200m men’s final.
The real Usain Bolt about to race. (Honestly it is, all the camera batteries had died and my phone doesn’t cope well…)
The medal ceremony was pretty special with three Jamaicans on the podium.
The 200m men’s medal ceremony spot the three Jamaican flags to the right of the picture.
The next day #knittedUsain chilled out in Hyde Park and watched the Open Water swimming. He even made a new friend.
#knittedUsain meets Wenlock at the Open Water Swimming in Hyde Park
Finally though it was time to head home.
The next night #knittedUsain had to make do with listening on the radio in the car to hear the real Usain complete a historic feat by completing the double treble – winning 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m gold at consecutive Olympics.
Ruth stitches and sews 